No messing mate KRAV MAGA. God help anyone who messes with them once they’ve learnt this.

Ha Ha!!! For an 8 year old? Fair play mate you’ve made my Sunday morning!

Bloody hell, theres a few Judo players on here!
STW judo meetup anyone? 😛

shocked no one has put an image of hit girl up yet.

STW Judo meet! Make a change fighting for real and not online!

HAHA
yeah STW judo meets
I’ll probably win the under 60 class by being alone 😉

Hey Juan, usually if there weren’t enough to run a weight they just combine it all into an open. See you there in the u86.

My two girls both enjoyed Shotokan Karate, but it is dependent on finding a club with the right attitudes. As an earlier poster said, look for one with a good mix of attendees – our had ages from 5-65 and was about 50/50 male and female. Very friendly, great exercise, good for discipline and confidence.

Grading went well, 5 of us got pulled aside to do some extra stuff, Turns out they were impressed so double graded us both and now were both orange belts, Ace!

If you want to ensure control is part of what she learns, look at the arts that do not have boots & gloves as part of the required personal equipment. A couple of friends of mine (1 x aikdo instructor, 1 x karate instructor) independently commented on this in the past. Of course, they may well be biased towards their own arts, but much of their training is without padding etc to teach control. If the participants always need protection, they claimed control is therefore less. Seems a reasonable view IMHO.

It is a hard thing to do, recommending a martial art. The art itself is one thing, but the attitude and quality of the club and instructor/s is also a major factor to consider and look into before choosing a club to join.

There is such a thing as too much disipline, and some clubs take things a little too far and can be too rigid. There has to be an element of humour (in the right place/time) to help you enjoy your training, especially as a Junior. Nothing worse than the thought of a kid growing up and taking themselves too seriously or ending up thinking they’re invincible etc..

On the arts themselves, I did Karate from age 12 to 21, and whilst I would say that it was a great thing to do to learn a fantastic martial art which also helped me by teaching respect of others, discipline, control, self defence, fitness etc.., as an adult I decided to try something that had always tickled me fancy – Aikido. I am now wishing I had started this at age 12 rather than Karate. I much prefer the philisophy behind Aiki (specifically Tomiki style Aikido), as well as the art itself which I have found makes you think a hell of a lot about what you’re doing and why. Plus the fact the techniques are also much more fun to practise (IMO)!

As for ages, my club accepts kids from age 6 and the training is obviously made safe and tailored to suit age / ability as you would expect.

What area are you in?

Please make sure you shop around 🙂

Cheers all, lot to think about there – wasn’t quite expecting so many replies!!!

We’re mid-Derbyshire. Belper, Ripley, Alfreton etc are in easy reach.

Is Chaddesden too far for you?

This chaps a good bloke.

I did Tae Kwon Do. I’d agree at 8 years old the instructor is more important than the style. It needs to be fun, and safe. An emphasis on self discipline, and control would be high on my list.

My little one came back from a Karate, Kata comp. at the weekend 😉

She is 7 going on eight, been doing Karate for 2 years & loves it, her club is not too focused on belt grading, more fun at this age & the team she is with are great.

but it is dependent on finding a club with the right attitudes. As an earlier poster said, look for one with a good mix of attendees

Good advice, shop around all your local clubs, you will be amazed how much they can vary 😉

I’d recommend brazilian ju-jitsu (bjj). It’s basically ground fighting / submissions etc. I’d sure there is a Gracie school in Derby.

Unless you’e put off by the bad press, if you could get her to mixed martial arts classes she would get a good all-round set of skills and burn off a lot of energy. Ignore the cage fighting label, it is just a combination of striking, wrestling and submissions. My son absolutely loves it. He came kickboxing with me for a while but prefers the grappling sie of things.

The art itself is one thing, but the attitude and quality of the club and instructor/s is also a major factor

If what I’ve learnt from the Karate Kid is anything to go by, only join a club who wear white suites cos the ones who use the cool looking black ones are invariably baddies.

cool looking black ones are invariably baddies.

it’s cos black is slimming, people unhappy with their weight gravitate towards the black and as a result you get a group of unhappy people training to be violent… thus creating baddies.

You should also watch out for instructors with loads of dirty big old cars outside and large gardens with loads of fencing and little trees in them.

Don’t be such a chav!

Loving the useful input spongebob, most informative sir! 🙂

anyone suggested wing chun yet?

Poopsies-RE BJJ.Could not agree more 😉